The next week for the Edmonton Oilers and around the NHL is bound to be filled with plenty of action and storylines as the NHL holiday roster freeze nears.
After Friday, NHL teams will be unable to make any changes to their roster until December 28th, forcing teams to make any necessary call-ups and reassignments before December 20th at 12:00am.
Draisaitl hits 1000 point milestone
After being on the cusp for multiple games, Oilers star Leon Draisaitl recorded his 1000th NHL point, an assist on Zach Hyman's powerplay goal against his former goaltender, Stuart Skinner and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He became just the fifth Oilers player to hit the feat and the first German player to hit the 1000 point mark in NHL history.
Oilers face familiar foes
It was Skinners' first game against his former team after being swapped for Tristan Jarry on December 12th. It was a high scoring affair with neither goalie seeming particularly sharp but many Oilers fans dubbed it a 'classic' Skinner performance as he stopped 17 of 22 shots he faced for a .773 save percentage.
Former Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak also played in the game. He logged 15:22 of icetime in his debut against his former club.
By the final buzzer, the Oilers bested the Penguins in regulation by a score 6-4.
NHL News
Misa to join Canada for WJC
San Jose Sharks release 2025 second overall pick, Michael Misa to Team Canada to compete at the World Juniors according to Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino. The 18 year old has been held to only seven games this season scoring one goal and two assists for three points. He will likely be an integral part of Canada's World Juniors squad.
Sabres GM makes bold promises
Speaking at his first press conference since being named general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, Jarmo Kekalainen said “We’re very close,” adding “I firmly believe we can make the playoffs this year.”
This is a bold statement from a team that has not made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2011. We will see how things unfold in Buffalo over the coming months. For our friends at Sabrenoise, we can only hope.
Other NHL players nearing major milestones
Given Draisaitl crossing the 1000 point threshold, we are highlighting a few NHL stars who are nearing major milestones in their NHL careers.
Steven Stamkos: Currently sitting at 594 goals, six shy of 600
Patrick Kane: 498, two shy of 500 goal mark, 34 points shy of 1400 points
Nathan MacKinnon: Seven shy of 400 goal mark with 393
Anze Kopitar: Six points away from 1300 points at 1294
Matt Duchene, Erik Karlsson, Jonathan Toews: Five, seven, and eight points shy of the 900 point mark in their careers.